Bio: Cronstedt, Fred (1923)

 
Contact: Stan

Surnames: Cronstedt, Green, Stolberg

----Source: History of Wood County, Wis. (1923) page 561

Fred Cronstedt, a well-known farmer in Sigel Township, was born in Finland July 22, 1877, son of Matt and Bertha Cronstedt. The parents were natives of Finland, from which country the father came to the United States in 1886; he settled in Wood County, Wis., and bought 40 acres of wild land in Section 9, Sigel Township, on which he built a log hut and was joined one year later by his family. Here they made their home and worked at clearing the land. The father later built a good log house and farmed the property they had built up until his death in 1907; the mother passed away in 1917. Mr. and Mrs. Matt Cronstedt were lhe parents of seven children, of whom three died in Finland before the family's removal to this country; those living are: William, Fred, Erick, and Anna; the latter is now Mrs. Stephen Green of Sigel Township. Fred Cronstedt was ten years old when he came to Wood County with his parents. He went to school here and helped to develop and operate the home farm until he was 15 years old, at which time he started to work for himself at logging and in the sawmills, in the employ of the Arpin Lumber Co. In 1899 he bought 52 acres of land in Section 3, Sigel Township, and 40 acres in Sherry Township. This property was all wild land; Mr. Cronstedt erected a frame house on it and set to work to clear the land, continuing to spend the winters in logging camps and working during the summer months at the development of his farm. He later added a good barn, silo, sheds, etc., to his equipment, and now has a fine, well-tilled farm, having cleared 45 acres and brought everything up to modern standards of good farming. He is carrying on general farming and dairying. He is well liked and respected by everyone, and has built up his present success solely by his own efforts. He was pathmaster in 1921. He has spent 19 winters, including that of 1921-22, in the lumber woods. Mr. Cronstedt was married in Sigel Township in 1902 to Hilda Stolberg, daughter of Jonas and Louisa Stolberg. Mrs. Cronstedt's parents were both born in Finland and are still living in that country. Mr. and Mrs. Cronstedt had ten children, one of whom, Ellen, is now deceased; those living are: Mildred, Segrid, Arthur, Harold, Helma, Wilbert, Myrtle, Oscar, Alice, and Leonard.